diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/utils/shellscript.py b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/utils/shellscript.py
index 286445dd2d..24f353bf00 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/sorters/utils/shellscript.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/sorters/utils/shellscript.py
@@ -86,15 +86,15 @@ def start(self) -> None:
         if self._verbose:
             print("RUNNING SHELL SCRIPT: " + cmd)
         self._start_time = time.time()
+        encoding = sys.getdefaultencoding()
         self._process = subprocess.Popen(
-            cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, bufsize=1, universal_newlines=True
+            cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, bufsize=1, universal_newlines=True, encoding=encoding
         )
         with open(script_log_path, "w+") as script_log_file:
             for line in self._process.stdout:
                 script_log_file.write(line)
-                if (
-                    self._verbose
-                ):  # Print onto console depending on the verbose property passed on from the sorter class
+                if self._verbose:
+                    # Print onto console depending on the verbose property passed on from the sorter class
                     print(line)
 
     def wait(self, timeout=None) -> Optional[int]: